:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51247091/Gears4_horde_boss.0.0.jpg)
Some of Amazon's Gears of War 4 pre-order customers are very unhappy today, and rightfully so: They paid extra to get the game early, but their shipments have been delayed until the game's public launch next week — or even later, according to anecdotal reports.
Dissatisfied customers are contributing to a growing thread on Reddit. Several who are distributed throughout the country are saying that customer service representatives at Amazon have informed them that their shipments were delayed. Others say that their accounts show the game due for delivery next week, rather than today, as expected.
The customers are understandably jumpy, considering the early-access promotion offered for pre-orders of the game. Premium versions of Gears of War 4 — the $99.99 Ultimate Edition and a $249.99 package bundled with a statue — provided players with four days of early access beginning today, Oct. 7. (Early access is also available for some digital versions of the game.)
Combined with the Columbus Day holiday on Monday, a delay on Amazon’s end could mean some customers may not receive their copies of Gears of War 4 until after the game’s launch on Tuesday, Oct. 11 — negating the four-day early access period.
It’s unknown at this time if these reports represent usual inaccuracies in shipment tracking systems or a larger issue. Some customers reported that Amazon told them its warehouses had not received shipments from the supplier, which in this case would be Microsoft. We’ve reached out to Amazon and Microsoft for more details, and will update this article with any information we receive. In the meantime, you can read our review of Gears of War 4.
Update: Microsoft representatives responded with the following statement to Polygon this evening: "We understand that some Amazon customers have had their delivery of Gears of War 4: Ultimate Edition delayed. Impacted customers should contact Amazon customer service as they work to resolve this issue."
Update, Oct. 8: Some Amazon customers are reporting that they've received digital download codes for Gears of War 4 by email from Amazon customer service.
